Connector for toy gun

ABSTRACT

Provided is a connector for a toy gun having a feature for detecting whether or not a projectile remains. The connector includes a connector body coupled to the toy gun to be connected with an upper portion of a magazine when the magazine is inserted into the toy gun, a hole formed to pass through front end of the connector body and configured to accommodate the projectile provided by the magazine, a projectile fixing portion positioned on the connector body in which the hole is formed to fix the projectile provided via the hole, a projectile sensing portion which senses whether or not a projectile remains in the hole; and a first protrusion interlocked with the projectile sensing portion to control movement of a cylinder of the toy gun depending on whether or not a projectile remains in the hole.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 2015-0183021, filed on Dec. 21, 2015 and Korean PatentApplication No. 2016-0042936, filed on Apr. 7, 2016, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a connector for a toy gun, and moreparticularly, to a connector capable of controlling cocking of a toygun, depending on whether or not a projectile remains in the toy gun.

2. Discussion of Related Art

As societies develop, people have come to enjoy diverse leisureactivities for reasons such as health, hobbies, and the like, andleisure activity population is also gradually increasing. Among thediverse leisure activities, survival games are gradually growing indeveloped countries in terms of participating population as well asmarket size. In the case of such a survival game, mock allied forces andmock enemy forces play a survival game using a toy gun in a shapesimilar to a real gun and thereby promoting health, stress reduction,friendship, realistic military training, and the like.

Specifically, in the case of a conventional toy gun for a survival game,a projectile such as a BB pellet supplied from a magazine and positionedat front end of a cylinder is fired when a piston moved back in thecylinder suddenly thrusts forward by force of compressed air or aspring.

In the case of the conventional toy gun for a survival game describedabove, with the cylinder fixed, only the piston reciprocates forward andbackward to fire the projectile. In addition, a rack gear portion isformed outside of the piston, a gear train connected to the rack gearportion by gear engagement is driven by an electric motor, and therebythe piston is automatically moved to a position (a moved back position)ready for firing.

Meanwhile, in the case of the conventional toy gun for a survival gamedescribed above, when damage occurs to a gear due to repetitive useimpacts malfunction, etc., there arises a problem in which the wholepiston assembly needs to be replaced because the piston and the rackgear portion are integrally formed. In addition, such a piston is formedof an expensive metal material, resulting in much of financial burdenput on a user.

In addition, in the case of the conventional toy gun, a user cannotdetermine whether or not a projectile remains, and therefore a piston isunnecessarily reciprocated by cocking by a user even when there is noprojectile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to providing a connector for a toy guncapable of sensing whether or not a projectile remains in the toy gun.

In addition, the present invention is directed to providing a connectorfor a toy gun capable of controlling cocking of a toy gun, depending onwhether or not a projectile remains in the toy gun.

The technical objectives of the present invention are not limited to theabove objects, and other objectives not described herein may becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art based on the followingdescription.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aconnector for a toy gun, including: a connector body coupled to the toygun to be connected with an upper portion of a magazine when themagazine is inserted into the toy gun; a hole formed to pass throughfront end of the connector body and configured to accommodate aprojectile provided by the magazine; a projectile fixing portionpositioned on the connector body in which the hole is formed andconfigured to fix the projectile provided via the hole; a projectilesensing portion which senses whether or not a projectile remains in thehole; and a first protrusion interlocked with the projectile sensingportion to control a movement of a cylinder of the toy gun depending onwhether or not a projectile remains in the hole.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda connector for a toy gun, including: a connector body coupled to thetoy gun to be connected with an upper portion of a magazine when themagazine is inserted into the toy gun; a hole formed to pass throughfront end of the connector body and configured to accommodate aprojectile provided by the magazine; a projectile fixing portionpositioned on the connector body in which the hole is formed andconfigured to fix the projectile provided via the hole; a projectilesensing portion whose position changes in the connector body dependingon whether or not a projectile remains in the hole; and a firstprotrusion allowed to rotate by the projectile sensing portion dependingon whether or not a projectile remains in the hole and configured torotate by pressure of a stopper which controls a movement of a cylinderin the toy gun.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration view of a toy gun according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a magazine and a connector according tothe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed view illustrating a connector according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a connector of the first embodiment, in whichthere is a remaining projectile;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a connector of the first embodiment, in whichthere is no projectile;

FIG. 6 is a detailed view illustrating a toy gun according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are detailed views illustrating a cylinder assembly of atoy gun according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a state in which a cylinder and a pistonof a toy gun are moved back according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a state in which a cylinder of a toy gunis moved forward (in a state ready to fire) according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a process in which a piston of a toy gunmoves forward according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a driving control mechanism of a toygun according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration view of a toy gun according to asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a magazine and a connector according tothe second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a detailed view illustrating a connector according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate a connector of the second embodiment inwhich there is a remaining projectile; and

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate a connector of the second embodiment inwhich there is no projectile.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The objects, features, and advantages described above will become moreapparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments ofthe present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, andthereby those skilled in the art may easily implement the technicalspirit of the present invention. In the following description, detaileddescriptions of well-known technologies will be omitted where they mayunnecessarily obscure the subject matters of the present invention.

First Embodiment

Hereinafter, a toy gun will be described in detail according to a firstembodiment of the present invention and with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a toy gun 100 according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention includes a magazine 20, a connector 30, a toy gunmain body 110 having a cartridge chamber into which a projectile 10supplied from the connector 30 is individually loaded, a cylinderassembly 120, a piston 130, and a driving control mechanism 200.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, as an example, the magazine 20 includes amagazine body 21, a storage space 22, a feed tube 23, a feed wheel 24, aprotrusion 25, an elastic body 26, an outlet 27, and an insertion port28.

The magazine body 21 is formed in a size and shape that allowsdetachable installation on the toy gun 100, and the storage space 22 isa space for storing the projectile 10. In addition, the feed tube 23 isdisposed inside the magazine body 21 and is formed in a tube shape tomove the projectile 10 upward. The feed wheel 24 is disposed at a lowerportion inside the magazine body 21, and the protrusion 25 is formed ina sawtooth shape on a perimeter of the feed wheel 24 so that theprojectile 10 is individually supported. The projectiles 10 are suppliedto the feed tube 23 by rotation of the feed wheel 24. In addition, theelastic body 26 is disposed inside the feed wheel 24 and is formed as aclockwork spring to provide elasticity for rotating the feed wheel 24.The outlet 27 is formed at an upper portion of the magazine body 21 todischarge the projectile 10 to the outside, and the insertion port 28also is formed at the upper portion of the magazine body 21 and isconfigured to be openable and closable for replenishing the projectile10 into the storage space 22.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the connector 30 includes a connector body 31,a hole 32, a projectile fixing portion 33, a projectile sensing portion34, a first protrusion 35, a second protrusion 36, and a cylindricalentrance 37. The connector 30 may be fixed inside the toy gun main body110 or inserted into the toy gun main body 110 along with the magazine20 when the magazine 20 is inserted into the toy gun main body 110. Thepresent embodiment describes the connector 30 fixed inside the toy gunmain body 110.

When the magazine 20 is inserted into the toy gun main body 110, theconnector body 31 is coupled to the toy gun main body 110 to beconnected to an upper portion of the magazine 20.

The hole 32 is formed to pass through front end of the connector body 31and configured to accommodate the projectile 10 provided by the magazine20. The hole 32 has a greater diameter than the projectile 10 so thatthe projectile 10 may pass therethrough.

The projectile fixing portion 33 is formed on the connector body 31 atwhich the hole 32 is formed and includes right and left side walls 33 afor fixing the projectile 10 provided via the hole 32 and an aisle 33 bbetween the right and left side walls 33 a so that the projectile 10moves to the cartridge chamber by pressure from the cylinder assembly120. Each of the right and left side walls 33 a includes grooves 33 cwhich may accommodate and fix the projectile 10 at inside surfacesthereof.

The projectile sensing portion 34 is for sensing whether or not aprojectile 10 remains in the magazine 20 and the hole 32 and includes aplate 34 a inserted into the connector body 31 and a spring 34 b whichpushes the plate 34 a toward the hole 32. When there is no projectile inthe hole 32, the plate 34 a is inserted into the hole 32 through a sidesurface of the hole 32, and conversely when there is a remainingprojectile 10 in the hole 32, the plate 34 a is positioned outside ofthe hole 32 because the plate 34 a is not allowed to be inserted intothe hole 32 due to a remaining projectile 10. Therefore, whether or nota projectile remains in the hole 32 may be determined depending on aposition of the plate 34 a. In addition, front end of the plate 34 a isformed to have a slope so that a lower surface is longer than an uppersurface for easily pushing up the remaining projectile 10 towardprojectile fixing portion 33. The projectile sensing portion 34 ispositioned between the hole 32 and the first protrusion 35.

The first protrusion 35 is inserted into rear end of the connector body31 to be vertically rotatable about a first rotating shaft 35a and isprovided with rotating force by a spring 35b positioned thereunder. Thefirst protrusion 35 is interlocked with the projectile sensing portion34 to rotate depending on whether or not a projectile remains in thehole 32, and the first protrusion 35 controls a movement of a cylinder121 of the toy gun 100 by the rotation. For example, when there is aremaining projectile 10 in the hole 32 as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and4B, the plate 34 a lays down and fixes the first protrusion 35.Accordingly, the first protrusion 35 allows the cylinder 121 to pass theconnector 30 and move toward the projectile fixing portion 33.Conversely, when there is no projectile in the hole 32 as illustrated inFIGS. 5A and 5B, the plate 34 a and the first protrusion 35 becomespaced apart from each other as the plate 34 a moves toward the hole 32,and thereby the first protrusion 35 rotates upward. That is, the firstprotrusion 35 is allowed to rotate by the plate 34 a and rotates by thespring 35b. Therefore, the first protrusion 35 blocks the cylinder 121from moving toward the projectile fixing portion 33. Here, although thefirst protrusion 35 itself may be formed to control movement of thecylinder 121 by vertical rotation, the first protrusion 35 controls themovement of the cylinder 121 in the present embodiment by verticallymoving a stopper 300 that is to be described below.

The second protrusion 36 is formed at a side surface of the plate 34 ato be rotatable about a second rotating shaft 36 a and is formed to beinterlocked with the projectile sensing portion 34 to protrude from asurface of the connector body 31 depending on whether or not aprojectile remains in the hole 32. For example, when there is aremaining projectile 10 in the hole 32 as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and4B, the plate 34 a lays down and fixes the second protrusion 36, andaccordingly, the second protrusion 36 remains inserted in the connectorbody 31. In addition, while a remaining projectile 10 in the hole 32moves toward the projectile fixing portion 33, the second protrusion 36remains inserted in the connector body 31 due to pressure of a lowerportion of the cylinder 121. Conversely, when there is no projectile inthe hole 32 as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the second protrusion 36protrudes from the surface of the connector body 31, as the plate 34 amoves toward the hole 32. After this, when the cylinder 121 moves towardthe projectile fixing portion 33, the second protrusion 36 is insertedinto the connector body 31 again due to the pressure of a lower portionof the cylinder 121, and the plate 34 a escapes out of the hole 32 byrotation of the second protrusion 36.

The cylindrical entrance 37 is formed under the hole 32 to connect theoutlet 27 of the magazine 20 and the hole 32. The cylindrical entrance37 is formed to be provided with the projectile 10 from the outlet 27 ofthe magazine 20 and has a greater diameter than the projectile 10 sothat the projectile 10 passes therethrough.

The toy gun main body 110 includes a barrel portion 111, a handgrip 113connected to a lower portion of the barrel portion 111, and a cartridgechamber 115 provided at front end of the barrel portion 111. Thecylinder assembly 120 and the piston 130 are installed to reciprocate inthe barrel portion 111.

A power supply unit 210 and a driving motor 220 of the driving controlmechanism 200 may be built in the handgrip 113.

A projectile 10 (may be a BB pellet or a combined BB pellet andpellet-shell) is individually supplied and loaded into the cartridgechamber 115. The cartridge chamber 115 is formed to receive theprojectile 10 from the projectile fixing portion 33. The magazine 20 iscoupled to the toy gun main body 110 through a magazine coupling portion117.

The projectile 10 may include a configuration of a normal BB pelletcombined to front end of a pellet-shell and also include only a normalBB pellet. The projectile 10 passes the outlet 27 of the magazine 20 andis individually supplied to the cartridge chamber 115 via the projectilefixing portion 33.

The cylinder assembly 120 is formed to reciprocate in the barrel portion111. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the cylinder assembly 120 includes thecylinder 121, a rack gear portion 123 detachably installed at thecylinder 121, and a guide portion 124.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cylinder 121 includes a cylinderbody 121 a in a cylindrical shape, a cylinder head 122 inserted intofront end of the cylinder body 121 a, a spring 121 b positioned betweenthe cylinder body 121 a and the cylinder head 122 to space the cylinderhead 122 from the cylinder body 121 a, a nozzle 121 c inserted into thecylinder head 122 to pass through the cylinder head 122, and a stopper121 d for preventing separation between the cylinder body 121 a and thecylinder head 122.

The cylinder 121 is formed to reciprocate (moving backward and movingforward) in the toy gun main body 110 to be ready for firing, and nostructure (for example, a side surface guider for the cylinder.) existsbetween left and right side surfaces of the cylinder 121 and left andright inside surfaces of the toy gun main body 110 so that the left andright side surfaces of the cylinder 121 face the left and right insidesurfaces of the toy gun main body 110 at the closest possible distance.In this case, a sense of reality may be increased because a user mayfeel and visually check the reciprocating actions of the cylinder 121like a real gun. In addition, capacity of the cylinder 121 may bemaximized and thus amount of compressed air generated by the cylinder121 may be maximized because no other structure exists, such as a sidesurface guider.

The spring 121 b provides elasticity that pushes the cylinder head 122from the cylinder body 121 a, thereby mitigating a physical impactoccurring when the cylinder 121 moves forward and collides with the toygun main body 110. In addition, when the cylinder 121 moves backward dueto recoil after the collision, the spring 121 b pushes the cylinder head122 forward, and thereby the seal of the cartridge chamber 115 may bemaintained.

Since the nozzle 121 c has a smaller diameter than the spring 121 b, thenozzle 121 c is inserted not only into the cylinder head 122 but alsointo the spring 121 b. In addition, a front end portion of the nozzle121 c protrudes forward from the cylinder head 122 to discharge highpressure air, and rear end of the nozzle 121 c is inserted into frontend of the cylinder body 121 a.

The stopper 121 d passes through a hole formed at one side surface ofthe cylinder body 121 a and inserted into a groove formed at a sidesurface of the cylinder head 122 corresponding to the one side surfaceof the cylinder body 121 a.

The rack gear portion 123 is formed under the cylinder 121 with a lengthcorresponding to the length of the cylinder body 121 a. Unlike thecylinder body 121 a, the rack gear portion 123 may be formed of anonmetal material or may also be formed of a metal material.

The rack gear portion 123 includes a rack gear tooth 123 c formed at alower surface and in a length direction of the rack gear portion 123. Inaddition, the rack gear portion 123 includes a contact surface 123 a incontact with a first sensor 281 of a sensing unit 280 and a groove 123 bformed in a length direction of the rack gear portion 123 not to be incontact with the first sensor 281. The contact surface 123 a and thegroove 123 b are positioned at a lower surface of the rack gear portion123 and next to the rack gear tooth 123 c.

The rack gear portion 123 is separately provided by the cylinder body121 a and is formed to be assembled and separated by a bolt or the likeso that the rack gear portion 123 may be replaced with a new one in thecase that the rack gear tooth 123 c of the rack gear portion 123 doesnot work normally due to damage or breakage when used for a long time.That is, only the rack gear portion 123 may be replaced unlike theconventional method in which the whole expensive cylinder assembly 120needs to be replaced and thereby having an advantage of reducing cost.Specifically, since the cylinder body 121 a normally is made ofexpensive brass to prevent deformation while maintaining certainsolidity and to reduce weight, the configuration provided with theseparate rack gear portion 123 to be coupled instead of integrallymanufacturing the rack gear and the expensive cylinder body 121 aprovides an advantage of not only reducing an financial burden for auser but also reducing waste of resources.

In addition, the rack gear portion 123 guides the reciprocating actionof the cylinder assembly 120 in the toy gun main body 110 withoutcontact between the surfaces of the cylinder 121 and the inside surfacesof the toy gun main body 110. Since the rack gear portion 123 does notbring the surfaces of the cylinder 121 into contact with the insidesurfaces of the toy gun main body 110, the rack gear portion 123 canreduce the frictional resistance of the cylinder assembly 120.

The guide portion 124 is formed on the cylinder body 121 a and stablyguides the reciprocating action of the cylinder assembly 120 along withthe rack gear portion 123. A return spring 125 is connected to the guideportion 124 to return the cylinder assembly 120 to an initial positionfrom a state in which the cylinder assembly 120 is moved back. The guideportion 124 may be made of a nonmetal material such as a plastic or thelike or may also be made of a metal material.

The piston 130 is installed to reciprocate in the cylinder body 121 a,moves backward along with the cylinder 121 when the cylinder 121 movesbackward as illustrated in FIG. 9, and is locked by a locking member 250of the driving control mechanism 200 to maintain a state ready to fire.After this, only the cylinder assembly 120 separately moves forward asillustrated in FIG. 10.

A locking portion 131 coupled to and locked by the locking member 250 ofthe driving control mechanism 200 is formed at an outer side of thepiston 130. The locking portion 131 may be variously implemented in ashape of a hooked jaw, a hole, or the like. Therefore, with the piston130 is completely moved back to be in a state ready to fire, the lockingportion 131 is hooked by a locking protrusion 251 of the locking member250 to maintain the state ready to fire. In addition, when the lockingis released by the locking member 250, the piston 130 enters thecylinder 121 by an elastic force of a main spring 140 installed at rearof the piston 130, and thereby compressed air at high pressure isprovided to the nozzle 121 c to fire the projectile 10. Here, the mainspring 140 is installed at the rear of the piston 130 inside the barrelportion 111, is compressed by the piston 130 moving backward, launchesthe piston 130 into the cylinder body 121 a by the elastic force when alock by the locking member 250 is released, and thereby the projectile10 may be fired using the air at high pressure.

The cylinder assembly 120 with the configuration described above movesforward by spring restoring force of the return spring 125 when the rackgear tooth 123c is separated from a cam gear 230 with the cylinderassembly 120 is moved back along with the piston 130. In addition, theprojectile 10 supplied to the cartridge chamber 115 may be positioned infront of the cylinder head 122 when the cylinder assembly 120 is movedbackward.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 12, the driving control mechanism 200includes a driving unit 201, the power supply unit 210, the drivingmotor 220, the sensing unit 280, a control unit 286, and a stopper 300.

The driving unit 201 includes the cam gear 230, a gear train 240, thelocking member 250, a release lever 260, a trigger 270, etc. The camgear 230 includes a gear tooth 231 a formed at a portion of an outercircumference of the cam gear 230 to selectively engage with the rackgear tooth 123 c of the rack gear portion 123 to move the cylinder 121backward using power generated by the driving motor 220.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the cam gear 230 includes a camgear body 231, a cam portion 232 eccentrically installed at the rotatingcenter of the cam gear body 231, and a driven gear 233 which receivespower from the gear train 240. The cam gear 230 with the configurationdescribed above rotates by receiving the power of the driving motor 220via the gear train 240. In the state of FIG. 6, the gear tooth 231 a isconnected and interlocked with the rack gear tooth 123 c when the camgear 230 makes one rotation, and thereby the cylinder assembly 120 movesbackward along with the piston 130. Here, it is preferable that thenumber of the gear tooth 231 a be the same as the number of the rackgear tooth 123 c so that the backward movement of the cylinder 121 iscompleted by the one rotation of the cam gear 230.

When the cylinder assembly 120 and the piston 130 are completely movedback, the piston 130 is hooked by the locking member 250 to maintainbeing moved back (a state ready to fire), and the cylinder assembly 120moves forward by an elastic restoring force of the return spring 125when the gear tooth 231 a of the cam gear 230 and the rack gear tooth123 c become separated.

The gear train 240 is for decelerating power of a driving gear 221installed at the shaft of the driving motor 220 and transferring thepower to the driven gear 233 of the cam gear 230, and since diverseexamples are available and the present invention is not limited bytechnical configurations of the gear train, detailed descriptionsthereof will be omitted.

One end of the locking member 250 is rotatably installed in the toy gunmain body 110 and the other end is connected to the release lever 260 tobe interlocked. The locking member 250 described above includes thelocking protrusion 251 coupled and locked to the locking portion 131 ofthe piston 130 moved back, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

As an example, the release lever 260 is rotatably installed in the toygun main body 110 and includes an interlocking bar 261 which extends inone direction from the center of rotation and is connected to the otherend of the locking member 250 and an interference bar 262 which extendsin a direction opposite the interlocking bar 261 from the center ofrotation. The interference bar 262 is a portion interfered by the camportion 232 when the cam gear 230 rotates, and when the cam portion 232moves from the state of FIG. 10 to the state of FIG. 11, theinterference bar 262 rotates by the cam portion 232 to be the state ofFIG. 11. Then, the release lever 260 rotates, the locking member 250connected to the release lever 260 also rotates in conjunctiontherewith, the locking protrusion 251 is separated from the piston 130,and thereby the piston 130 may be launched. Although not shown in thedrawings, the interference bar 262 may be formed in a shape extendingtoward an upper portion of the sensing unit 280, the interference bar262 moves toward the upper portion of the sensing unit 280 when cockingthe toy gun, and the movement of the interference bar 262 may bedetectable by the sensing unit 280. Here, the term “cocking” refers to amovement of the piston 130 into the cylinder 121 to fire the projectile10.

The trigger 270 is installed so that a portion thereof is exposedoutward from the toy gun main body 110 and is rotatably installed. Bypulling the trigger 270, the sensing unit 280 senses the signal and theprojectile 10 is fired.

The power supply unit 210 includes a battery installed inside the toygun main body 110, and either a rechargeable battery or a normal batterymay be used for the battery.

The driving motor 220 may be installed inside the handgrip 113 of thetoy gun main body 110 and operates by receiving power from the powersupply unit 210.

The sensing unit 280 includes the first sensor 281 for sensing aposition of the cylinder 121, a second sensor 282 for sensing motion ofpulling the trigger, and a third sensor 283 for sensing the number oftimes firing occurred.

The first sensor 281 is positioned on a moving path of the rack gearportion 123 and senses the position of the cylinder 121 by being incontact with the rack gear portion 123. When the first sensor 281 comesin contact with the contact surface 123 a positioned behind the groove123 b, the control unit 286 determines that the cylinder 121 starts tomove backward and the cartridge chamber 115 is open. After this, sincethe first sensor 281 is inserted into the groove 123 b during thebackward movement of the cylinder 121, the first sensor 281 is not incontact with the rack gear portion 123 and thereby the control unit 286determines that the cylinder 121 is in a process of moving backward. Inaddition, when the first sensor 281 is not in contact with the rack gearportion 123 after the first sensor 281 comes in contact with the contactsurface 123 a positioned in front of the groove 123 b, the control unit286 determines that the cylinder 121 completed the backward movement.That is, the control unit 286 may determine the position of the cylinder121 and whether or not the backward movement of the cylinder 121 iscompleted depending on whether or not the first sensor 281 is in contactwith the rack gear portion 123. In the same manner, the control unit 286may determine the position of the cylinder 121 and whether or not aforward movement of the cylinder 121 is completed by using the firstsensor 281 when the cylinder 121 moves forward.

In addition, the control unit 286 controls power supplied to the drivingunit 201 depending on the position and the completion state of thebackward and forward movement of the cylinder 121, that is, depending onwhether or not the cylinder 121 has returned back to the initialposition. For example, when the cylinder 121 stops during the movementbefore completing the backward and forward movement, the control unit286 controls the power supply unit 210 to cut the power supplied to thedriving unit 201. When the cam gear 230 rotates again in a state inwhich the cylinder 121 has not returned back to the initial position,the cylinder 121 collides with rear end of the toy gun main body 110,the cam gear 230 and the rack gear portion 123 continue to engage andrun even though the cylinder 121 cannot move backward any more, andthereby the cylinder 121, the cam gear 230, the rack gear portion 123,and the like may be damaged. For the reason described above, the controlunit 286 controls the power supply unit 210 to cut the power supplied tothe driving unit 201.

The second sensor 282 is for sensing motion of pulling the trigger 270by being in contact with the trigger 270. It is preferable that thesecond sensor 282 be installed on a control board inside the toy gunmain body 110 and be a switching sensor which generates on/off switchingsignal.

The third sensor 283 may sense a release motion of the locking members250 and occurrence of the cocking by being in contact with theinterference bar 262, and the control unit 286 may count the number ofthe cocking occurred using the third sensor 283 and store the number ofthe cocking occurred in a memory (not shown). The third sensor 283 isused for sensing the number of times cocking actually occurred (thenumber of forward movements of the cylinder).

In addition, although not illustrated in the drawings, a fourth sensorfor sensing loading and unloading of the magazine 20 may be furtherincluded.

The control unit 286 not only controls an operation of the driving motor220 according to each sensed signal from first to third sensors 281,282, 283 and the fourth sensor but also controls the power supply unit210 to selectively cut or allow a power supply to the driving motor 220.

The stopper 300 is formed on a movement path of the cylinder 121 in thebarrel portion 111 to block the forward movement of the cylinder 121 bycontrolling by the first protrusion 35. For example, when there is noprojectile in the hole 32, the stopper 300 moves upward due to pressureof the first protrusion 35 to block the movement of the cylinder 121toward the projectile fixing portion 33, and when there is a remainingprojectile 10 in the hole 32, the stopper 300 moves downward to allowthe movement of the cylinder 121 toward the projectile fixing portion 33because the pressure of the first protrusion 35 is released.

Hereinafter, an operation of the toy gun with the configurationdescribed above according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention will be described in detail.

To prepare for firing, the control unit 286 controls the power supplyunit 210, the driving motor 220, the driving unit 201, etc. toreciprocate the cylinder 121 (moving backward to moving forward) in thetoy gun main body 110. First, the rack gear portion 123 and the cam gear230 engage to move the cylinder 121 backward while the cam gear 230makes one rotation. Here, the piston 130 moves backward along with thecylinder 121.

After this, when the cylinder assembly 120 and the piston 130 completelymove back as illustrated in FIG. 9, the piston 130 is fixed by thelocking member 250 in the state of being moved back, and the cylinder121 moves forward by the return spring 125 as the rack gear portion 123and the cam gear 230 are separated, as illustrated in FIG. 10. Here,when there is no projectile in the hole 32, the plate 34 a and the firstprotrusion 35 are spaced apart from each other as the plate 34 a movestoward the hole 32, and thereby the first protrusion 35 rotates upward.Accordingly, the first protrusion 35 blocks the cylinder 121 from movingtoward the projectile fixing portion 33. Conversely, when there is aremaining projectile 10 in the hole 32, the first protrusion 35 allowsthe cylinder 121 to pass the connector 30 and move toward the projectilefixing portion 33 because the plate 34 a lays down and fixes the firstprotrusion 35.

The control unit 286 determines the position of the cylinder 121 andwhether or not the backward and forward movement of the cylinder 121 iscompleted using the first sensor 281 while the cylinder 121 movesbackward and forward. When the backward and forward movement of thecylinder 121 is not completed, the control unit 286 cuts power suppliedto the driving unit 201 to prevent the cam gear 230 from rotating again.

In addition, even when a user pulls the trigger 270 before the cylinder121 is not completely returned back to the initial position, the controlunit 286 controls the locking member 250 to prevent the piston 130 frommoving forward.

Conversely, when the cylinder 121 returns normally back to the initialposition, the control unit 286 supplies power again to maintain a stateready to fire, and when a user pulls the trigger 270 in this state, thecontrol unit 286 drives the driving motor 220 based on a switchingsignal of the second sensor 282. Next, the cam gear 230 further rotatesto make the cam portion 232 rotate the release lever 260, and the piston130 hooked by the locking member 250 interlocked with the interferencebar 262 rotating as illustrated in FIG. 11 is strongly launched byelastic force of the main spring 140. In addition, the projectile 10loaded into the cartridge chamber at front end of the cylinder assembly120 is fired by the high pressure of air generated when the piston 130rapidly returns back to the inside of the cylinder body 121 a.

As described above, the cam gear 230 is controlled to make one rotation,and an operation of firing one shot of the projectile 10 is performed bythe one rotation of the cam gear 230.

According to the toy gun of the embodiment of the present inventiondescribed above, since the cylinder assembly 120 is formed to performthe operation of moving backward and returning back along with thepiston 130, the projectile 10 is supplied to the space of the cartridgechamber 115 generated by the backward movement of the cylinder assembly120, and the projectile 10 is loaded as the cylinder assembly 120returns back. However, since the connector 30 blocks the movement of thecylinder 121 when there is no projectile, unnecessary movement of thecylinder 121 may be prevented, and a user may be informed that there isno projectile.

In addition, a recoil force as is generated when a real gun is fired maybe implemented through the operation of the cylinder assembly 120 thatrepeatedly moves backward and forward, that is, through the recoilgenerated when the cylinder assembly 120 returns back, and therebyproviding a user with a sense of reality when firing.

Second Embodiment

As illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, a toy gun according to the secondembodiment of the present invention has the same configuration andoperation as the toy gun of the first embodiment except a connector 40and a stopper 400.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the connector 40 of the second embodimentincludes a connector body 41, a hole 42, a projectile fixing portion 43,a projectile sensing portion 44, a first protrusion 45, a secondprotrusion 46, and a cylindrical entrance 47. The connector 40 may befixed inside a toy gun main body 110 or may be inserted into the toy gunmain body 110 along with a magazine 20 when the magazine 20 is insertedinto the toy gun main body 110.

The connector body 41, the hole 42, the projectile fixing portion 43,the projectile sensing portion 44, the second protrusion 46 and thecylindrical entrance 47 are the same as those in the first embodiment,but the first protrusion 45 is different from that in the firstembodiment.

The first protrusion 45 is inserted into rear end of the connector body41 to be vertically rotatable about a first rotating shaft 45 d. Thefirst protrusion 45 is allowed to rotate by the projectile sensingportion 44 depending on whether or not a projectile remains in the hole42. In other words, the first protrusion 45 is fixed or allowed torotate depending on a position of the projectile sensing portion 44. Inaddition, when the first protrusion 45 is allowed to rotate by theprojectile sensing portion 44, the first protrusion 45 rotates bypressure of the stopper 400 which controls movement of a cylinder 121 ina toy gun 100.

The first protrusion 45 includes a front end portion 45 a in contactwith rear end of the projectile sensing portion 44, a rear end portion45 b pressed by the stopper 400, and a rotating shaft 45 c positionedbetween the front end portion 45 a and the rear end portion 45 bdepending on whether or not a projectile remains in the hole 42. A lowersurface of the front end portion 45 a is in contact with rear end of aplate 44 a, and a lower surface of the rear end portion 45 b is pressedby the stopper 400. In addition, the rear end portion 45 b includes aslope in which a lower surface is formed to be longer than an uppersurface, and the slope is formed so that the cylinder 121 easily passesabove the connector 40.

The first protrusion 45 is interlocked with the projectile sensingportion 44 to rotate, depending on whether or not a projectile remainsin the hole 42, and controls movement of the cylinder 121 by therotation. For example, when there is a remaining projectile 10 in thehole 42 as illustrated in FIGS. 16A and 16B, rear end of the plate 44 afixes the front end portion 45 a not to rotate downward. Therefore, therear end portion 45 b blocks the stopper 400 from moving upward.Accordingly, the stopper 400 allows the cylinder 121 to pass theconnector 40 and move toward the projectile fixing portion 43.

Conversely, when there is no projectile in the hole 42 as illustrated inFIGS. 17A and 17B, the plate 44 a and the front end portion 45 a arespaced apart from each other, as the plate 44 a moves toward the hole42, and thereby the front end portion 45 a is allowed to rotate downwardabout the rotating shaft 45 c. Therefore, the rear end portion 45 ballows the stopper 400 to move upward. Accordingly, the stopper 400blocks the cylinder 121 from moving toward the projectile fixing portion43. Here, although the rear end portion 45 b itself may be formed tocontrol the movement of the cylinder 121 by vertically rotating aboutthe rotating shaft 45 c, the rear end portion 45 b controls the movementof the cylinder 121 by allowing the stopper 400 to move upward in thepresent embodiment.

The stopper 400 is formed on a movement path of the cylinder 121 in abarrel portion 111 to block a forward movement of the cylinder 121according to controlling by the first protrusion 45. For example, whenthere is no projectile in the hole 42, rotation of the first protrusion45 is allowed, the stopper 400 moves upward due to elasticity of aspring 410 positioned thereunder, and thereby the stopper 400 blocks thecylinder 121 from moving toward the projectile fixing portion 43.Conversely, when there is a remaining projectile 10 in the hole 42, thefirst protrusion 45 is fixed, and thus the stopper 400 does not moveupward but is fixed. Therefore, the stopper 400 allows the cylinder 121to move toward the projectile fixing portion 43.

Hereinafter, an operation of the toy gun with the configurationdescribed above according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention will be described in detail.

To prepare for firing, the control unit 286 controls the power supplyunit 210, the driving motor 220, the driving unit 201, etc. toreciprocates the cylinder 121 (moving backward to moving forward) in thetoy gun main body 110. First, the rack gear portion 123 and the cam gear230 engage to move the cylinder 121 backward while the cam gear 230makes one rotation. Here, the piston 130 moves backward along with thecylinder 121.

After this, when the cylinder assembly 120 and the piston 130 completelymove back as illustrated in FIG. 9, the piston 130 is fixed by thelocking member 250 in a state of being moved back, and the cylinder 121moves forward by the return spring 125 as the rack gear portion 123 andthe cam gear 230 are separated, as illustrated in FIG. 10. However, atthis point, when there is no projectile in the hole 42, the plate 44 aand the first protrusion 45 are spaced apart from each other as theplate 44 a moves toward the hole 42, and thereby the front end portion45 a is allowed to rotate downward about the rotating shaft 45 c.Therefore, the rear end portion 45 b allows the stopper 400 to moveupward. Accordingly, the stopper 400 blocks the cylinder 121 from movingtoward the projectile fixing portion 43. Conversely, when there is aremaining projectile 10 in the hole 42, the movement of the stopper 400is blocked because the plate 44 a fixes the first protrusion 45.Therefore, the stopper 400 allows the cylinder 121 to move toward theprojectile fixing portion 43.

The control unit 286 determines the position of the cylinder 121 andwhether or not the backward and forward movement of the cylinder 121 iscompleted using the first sensor 281 while the cylinder 121 movesbackward and forward. When the backward and forward movement of thecylinder 121 is not completed, the control unit 286 cuts power suppliedto the driving unit 201 to prevent the cam gear 230 from rotating again.

In addition, even when a user pulls the trigger 270 before the cylinderis not completely returned back to the initial position, the controlunit 286 controls the locking member 250 to prevent the piston 130 frommoving forward.

Conversely, when the cylinder 121 returns normally back to the initialposition, the control unit 286 supplies power again to maintain a stateready to fire, and when a user pulls the trigger 270 in this state, thecontrol unit 286 drives the driving motor 220 based on a switchingsignal of the second sensor 282. Next, the cam gear 230 further rotatesto make the cam portion 232 rotate a release lever 260, and the piston130 hooked by the locking member 250 interlocked with the interferencebar 262 rotating as illustrated in FIG. 11 is strongly launched byelastic force of the main spring 140. In addition, the projectile 10loaded into the cartridge chamber at front end of the cylinder assembly120 is fired by high pressure of air generated when the piston 130rapidly returns back to the inside of the cylinder body 121 a.

The connector for a toy gun according to the present invention can senseand informs a user whether or not a projectile provided by the magazineremains.

In addition, the connector for a toy gun according to the presentinvention can control cocking of the toy gun depending on whether or nota projectile provided by the magazine remains.

Although exemplary embodiments to describe the principle of the presentinvention are illustrated and described as above, the present inventionis not limited to the configurations and operations as are illustratedand described herein. Rather, it should be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes and modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope and the technical spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A connector for a toy gun to connect a magazinewith the toy gun, the connector comprising: a connector body coupled tothe toy gun to be connected with an upper portion of the magazine whenthe magazine is inserted into the toy gun; a hole formed to pass throughfront end of the connector body and configured to accommodate aprojectile provided by the magazine; a projectile fixing portionpositioned on the connector body in which the hole is formed andconfigured to fix the projectile provided via the hole; a projectilesensing portion which senses whether or not a projectile remains in thehole; and a first protrusion interlocked with the projectile sensingportion to control movement of a cylinder of the toy gun depending onwhether or not a projectile remains in the hole.
 2. The connector ofclaim 1, wherein the projectile sensing portion includes a plateinserted into the connector body and a spring which pushes the platetoward the hole.
 3. The connector of claim 2, wherein the plate isinserted into the hole through a side surface of the hole when there isno projectile in the hole.
 4. The connector of claim 3, wherein frontend of the plate has a lower surface longer than an upper surface toform a slope.
 5. The connector of claim 1, further comprising a secondprotrusion interlocked with the projectile sensing portion andconfigured to protrude from the connector body depending on whether ornot a projectile remains in the hole.
 6. The connector of claim 5,wherein the second protrusion protrudes from the connector body whenthere is no projectile in the hole and is inserted into the connectorbody when there is a remaining projectile in the hole.
 7. The connectorof claim 5, wherein the second protrusion maintains an inserted state inthe connector body while a remaining projectile in the hole moves towardthe projectile fixing portion.
 8. The connector of claim 7, wherein thesecond protrusion maintains an inserted state in the connector body bypressure of a lower portion of the cylinder while a remaining projectilein the hole moves toward the projectile fixing portion.
 9. The connectorof claim 5, wherein the second protrusion is inserted in the connectorbody by pressure of the cylinder moving toward the projectile fixingportion.
 10. The connector of claim 1, wherein the first protrusion isinserted into rear end of the connector body, and the projectile sensingportion is positioned between the hole and the first protrusion.
 11. Theconnector of claim 1, wherein the first protrusion controls a stopper inthe toy gun to block the cylinder from moving toward the projectilefixing portion when there is no projectile in the hole, and controls thestopper to allow the cylinder to move toward the projectile fixingportion when there is a remaining projectile in the hole.
 12. Theconnector of claim 1, wherein the first protrusion is allowed to rotateby the projectile sensing portion depending on whether or not aprojectile remains in the hole.
 13. A connector for a toy gun to connecta magazine with the toy gun, the connector comprising: a connector bodycoupled to the toy gun to be connected with an upper portion of themagazine when the magazine is inserted into the toy gun; a hole formedto pass through front end of the connector body and configured toaccommodate a projectile provided by the magazine; a projectile fixingportion positioned on the connector body in which the hole is formed andconfigured to fix the projectile provided via the hole; a projectilesensing portion whose position changes in the connector body dependingon whether or not a projectile remains in the hole; and a firstprotrusion allowed to rotate by the projectile sensing portion dependingon whether or not a projectile remains in the hole and configured torotate by pressure of a stopper which controls movement of a cylinder inthe toy gun.
 14. The connector of claim 13, wherein the first protrusionis allowed to rotate by the projectile sensing portion when there is noprojectile in the hole and is allowed not to rotate by the projectilesensing portion when there is a remaining projectile in the hole. 15.The connector of claim 13, wherein the first protrusion includes: afront end portion in contact with rear end of the projectile sensingportion depending on whether or not a projectile remains in the hole; arear end portion pressed by the stopper; and a rotating shaft positionedbetween the front end portion and the rear end portion.
 16. Theconnector of claim 15, wherein a lower surface of the front end portionis in contact with the rear end of the projectile sensing portion. 17.The connector of claim 15, wherein a lower surface of the rear endportion is pressed by the stopper.